Perceived Islamophobia Scale

A measurement instrument to assess perceptions of Islamophobia

“Islamophobia”, often defined as fear and anxiety towards Muslims and Islam, has received increasing attention in social scientific research. While a lot of research has investigated factors explaining Islamophobia among non-Muslims, little research has investigated how Muslim themselves perceive Islamophobia in their societies and in the media. This motivated us to to conduct a series of studies, in which we showed that perceptions of Islamophobia are related to Muslims’ psychological well-being and the degree to which they identify with their religious, ethnic and national groups. As part of this, we have developed a psychometric scale to measure perceptions of Islamophobia. This scale we have validated among Muslims living in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Moreover, while the scale was originally developed to assess perceptions of Islamophobia among Muslims, some ongoing work has shown that it also can be used to measure such perceptions among non-Muslims. Indeed, in a very interesting research project conducted by Miriam Schwarzenthal, Ursula Moffitt, Jana Vietze and Sauro Civitillo (read about their project on their research blog here), the scale is currently used to measure perceived Islamophobia in a large range of German schools with Muslim and non-Muslim student populations. The scale is free to be used and validated translations can be found below. The scaling format is typically a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree).

Article to cite when using the scale:

Translations

English

1. Many Germans avoid Muslims.
2. Germans are suspicious of Muslims.
3. In general, Germans trust Muslims.*
4. Overall, only few Germans are afraid of Islam.*
5. Most Germans feel safe among Muslims.*
6. Many Germans get nervous in the presence of Muslims.
7. A lot of Germans are afraid that Muslims are going to take over Germany.
8. Many Germans fear an “islamization” of Germany.
9. A lot of Germans consider Islam a threat to German values.
10. German media always presents Muslims as dangerous people.
11. Islam is always presented as a threat to German culture in the media.
12. German media spreads a lot of fear of Muslims and Islam.
______________________________________________________________________________
General fear: item 1–6; Fear of islamization: item 7–9; Islamophobia in the media: item 10–12.
* Reversed item.

Privacy Preferences

When you visit this website, it may store information through your browser from specific services, usually in the form of cookies. Here you can change your Privacy preferences. It is worth noting that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on the website and the services it offers.